"Swinging from Mary's hopes and disappointments, both domestic and romantic, to the challenges that beset their tiny whaling operation, Rush Oh! is a celebration of an extraordinary episode in Australian history, when a family of whalers formed a fond, unique allegiance with a pod of frisky Killer whales - and in particular, a Killer whale named Tom."

We chat with Shirley Barrett about her debut novel Rush Oh!. She tells us why she was drawn to the historical tale of Eden NSW's great whaling family and how she researched early twentieth century life.